


Pearlescent

by cenji



Category: AB6IX (Band), BNM BOYS (Band), Produce 101 (TV), X1 (Korea Band)
Genre: Crack, Horror Elements, M/M, Music Festival, alternative universe
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-10-15
Updated: 2019-10-15
Packaged: 2020-11-01 13:41:53
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,727
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20816087
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/cenji/pseuds/cenji
Summary: Yohan goes astray and a boy falls into his arms (literally).





	Pearlescent

**Author's Note:**

> Prompt 67: you’re drunk at this festival and dancing on the table and when you eventually fell i caught you

Yohan has been abandoned. He is a lost lamb wandering through a harsh and lethal environment. He texts Seungwoo to tell him as much. Seungwoo texts back a minute later,   
[What part of 'I'm on a date with Sik, don't fucking text me' did you not understand?] 

[Hyung :-( u sed that on Friday, its Sat alredy :-( ] 

[The date's going well 乂❤‿❤乂]   
[Reply and I'll block you] 

Abandoned as no one has ever been abandoned.

He had first tried Donghan, who'd invited him to this festival in the first place. After a 40-minute delay, Donghan had finally replied, 

[lsstn I ws palying tiwtser and]   
[longs torys hrot Im gg 2 okinawa]   
[g'luck :-) txt me if un ede netnhig] 

At that point Yohan was already thoroughly lost. They'd told him this music festival was 'boutique', yet it's spread out over several stoney fields on the side of a hill, some distance from the nearest city of any size. Finding himself surrounded by nothing but tents and impromptu ukulele jam sessions, Yohan picked a relatively dry patch of ground, planted himself down, and rang Hangyul. He hoped a call might get him more attention than a text.

_"Is this... Is this Jesus?" _

_"No... Hangyul, I just told you. It's Yohan. The guy you came with?" _

_"'Came with' as in, like, into the world or. ..?" _

_"No! To the festival. The guy you came to the festival with?" _

_"I came to the festival with Jesus? Yeah... Yeah, I get it... Look, I've got to go. Goodbye, Jesus!" _

So then Yohan had had two worries. There had been feminine giggling on the line before Hangyul had rung off. Yohan hoped his friend was just having an enhanced good time and hadn't taken anything dangerous.

After Hangyul, he had tried Yongha - no answer. Then Daehyeon.

_"So you're telling me you want me to drive hours out of town, when I have an exam on Monday, sneak into the festival grounds, search for you because you're too dumb to figure out where you are, and drive all the way back?" _

_"Yes please." _

_"Good luck, Yohannie. Bye."_

Next, he'd texted Mahiro, who very sweetly told him '_I'd love to help, Hyung, but I'm in Osaka right now (´;︵;`)_'. And Yohan pretended to himself that he hadn't been informed of that already and simply forgotten.

After that, he'd been determined to figure out where the heck he was on his own. At least he needed to get out of this hub of shabby tents and pot-smokers and find some good music again. If he could just dance, and maybe kiss someone, and act like he wasn't hopelessly lost and alone, that'd be okay. In this mood - and kind of seriously craving a responsible adult - he'd texted Seungyoun, Eunbi and Seungeoo. Seungyoun sent him a penguin emoji. Eunbi said she would give him pocky if he could find his own way to her - Yohan is loath to admit it, but her methods did make him seriously pick up his pace. And Seungwoo, as mentioned, flexed his relationship. Nobody cares about little lost Yohan falteringly finding his way through this hellscape.

The Sun is setting. So, on the plus side, Yohan can't see the hellscape so clearly. He has semi-given up on finding his way and mostly just wants someone to pat his head and commiserate with him. It's now he comes upon the marquee.

It's in a desolate corner of the hillside that Yohan was going to avoid for fear of ogres. However, the glimpse of strobe lights and the throbbing of dance music draw his footsteps. He spies a bouncer at the entrance, but the large tent was evidently hastily erected. As he approaches from above, he sees a couple tumble together out of a gap at the side and disappear into the woods, the glitter in the girl's hair and all over her face catching the moonlight. Yohan sneaks in the same way.

He's hit immediately by the force of the music and the thick heat of too many people jumping and grinding in a too-small space. A girl in a bra top, her stomach and arms all painted with designs of animals and flowers, crashes into him. He catches her. She just laughs and disappears back into the crowd.

Yohan is tired. He's been walking for far too long and he really wants a drink. Unfortunately, all he sees are the DJ up in the center of this party and the people around being moved by the music. He can't see if there's somewhere to get a drink and he's not sure he would really trust a drink he got from here. He might end up like Hangyul, taking calls from Jesus. So he looks around, weaving his way around people dancing and... And that's all they're doing. He's been to dance clubs before, but the vibe has never been half this pure. Everyone's just dancing, whether in their own world, tossing their heads and waving glow sticks in the air, or holding on to their partner, feeling connected through the music. Despite being so tired and thirsty, Yohan feels his mood buoyed up.

Eventually, after inching his way for some time, he find something a little different. There are a couple of tables and people dancing on top. Yohan approaches with a great deal of caution. He does not associate dancing on tables with salubrious goings-on. And considering what a relatively salubrious time he'd been having... Even so, his curiosity is piqued and he picks his way through the spectators.

There's a boy. He has electric blue hair, almond eyes ringed with smudged makeup, a high nose, and he moves like the wind. Before he knows it, Yohan is right up at the edge, staring up at the boy in a sort of fascination. He hasn't seen many boys like this. Yongha and Junseo have a couple of friends who are like this - but those friends feel distant and separate and Yohan has never even considered approaching them. This boy is right here, beautiful in a way that would make Yohan's dad and sisters appalled. He's lithe and supple and moves with the music like it's the most natural thing in the world. His clothes are simple - black shorts and a sweat-soaked white t-shirt that clings to his thin frame, seeming to reveal more than had he been naked above the waist.

Yohan is awestruck. He knows boys can move like that. But he's never seen it like this, close enough to see his sweat, close enough to touch - not that he would dare. He's dimly aware of the music changing, the DJ bringing something new in. The boy spins and falls, directly into Yohan's arms. Two girls climb up to replace him and the spectators swell closer again to watch them. Yohan lets himself be shoved back, a giggling dancer leaning on him for support.

After a couple of abortive attempts to get info out of the blue haired boy, Yohan makes for the exit - the proper one, with the bouncer. The boy's arms are still around his neck and he is still sporting a carefree smile, being carried away by a stranger presumably being a not-uncommon occurrence for him.

Finally, they stumble and trip their way outside. Cold night air hits Yohan, making him shiver. He hadn't realised how much he'd been sweating in that jam packed place. Now his shirt is sticking to his skin and the lightweight sports jacket he's been wearing all day feels simultaneously too stifling and too thin. Blue-haired Boy relinquishes Yohan's neck to wrap his arms around himself. Watching him, dazed, it takes a second for Yohan to register that the bouncer is grunting in his direction.

"You two want to get your hands stamped or not? You're not getting back in without a stamp." 

"Oh, I'm not sure," he mumbles, scratching his jaw. He asks Blue-haired Boy - who's rubbing his goosepimpled arms and gazing at the starry sky.

"Huh? No, my friends aren't in there. Junghwan is a baby so I didn't let him come, Youngmin is holding court in the woods, and Seongjun ran away because he's a cat." 

Yohan has no idea what any of that means. He tells the bouncer they're okay and peels off his jacket to toss it around the trembling boy's shoulders. Yohan surprises himself with the gesture. He'd done it on instinct. It apparently surprises the boy too because he peers down at the front hanging loose over his shoulders, then he slowly looks up at Yohan and comments,

"I was right earlier. You do smell of burritos." 

Yohan blanches, feeling several inches shorter than this guy - despite reality being very much the reverse.

"That's the last thing I ate this morning." He places his arms behind his back simply to stop himself holding them and making himself feel even smaller. "Anyway what's your name? I'm Kim Yohan." 

"Sihun," he supplies, slipping off the jacket in order to wear it properly, "Did you eat burritos for breakfast?" 

"Yes. It's a festival don't judge my life choices." 

"I'm not," he tells him, zipping the jacket up to his chin and looking up at Yohan with a satisfied smile that morphs into concern. (Sihun's shoulders aren't _so_ much narrower than Yohan's - honed on a life spent at the taekwon dojang. But he's shorter with a slighter frame, so he looks bundled up in the jacket. His vulpine face poking out from the collar makes Yohan briefly forget how to make his tongue form words). "Does that mean you haven't eaten since morning though? That's no good. You must be hungry." 

Yohan's bottom lip juts out. He nods to Sihun's words, momentarily reveling in the consolation his hyungs and noona so failed to provide. However, he forces down the urge to layout his manifold trials and tribulations and try for a cuddle. They're still on the side of a barren hill, too close for comfort to a (probably) haunted wood and a (Yohan would bet money on it) illegal house music party. Yohan is still not certain whether or not Sihun has taken something. (He has no experience handling a person who is on anything other than pot, so doesn't know if Sihun's sparkling black eyes are indicating something potentially bad or indicating that Sihun has really pretty eyes). Above all, he still has no idea how to get off this barren, benighted hillside.

"It's fine. I got lost for a bit and didn't feel like eating is all," he claims, waving Sihun's concern away, "Where can I take you? Where's your tent?" 

"Don't have one." Sihun steps away from Yohan, staring up at the sky again, fists in his shorts pockets. When Yohan repeats, confused, where can he take the boy, Sihun comments, "I've been staying with Youngminnie-hyung. You can come if you like. He and Donghyunnie-hyung will have food. You should come. You should eat. Eat food, Yohannie." 

A red flag snaps to attention in Yohan's mind. Initially he thinks he's just reacting to the alluring dancer calling him 'Yohannie'. But that doesn't quite fit. He sieves through their conversation for the name 'Youngmin'.

"Wait!" he calls. Sihun has already started off of the hill, Yohan unknowingly trailing after him, albeit slowly. "Where's your Youngmin-hyung staying?" 

Sihun points beyond them. Yohan has to gird himself to let his eyes follow where Sihun is gesturing. A tiny, narrow path leading into the woods, murky and dim, ephemeral in the darkness. The woods that are but a blot on Google Maps and are indubitably thronged with ogres and wandering ghosts and nine-tailed foxes. Of course, thinking about it, Sihun does appear to be a fox... _Oh good gosh_, Yohan gasps, jaw dropping. He's about to lose his liver, isn't he? At least, it's to someone cute. 

Shaking himself out of it with the realisation that Sihun is already quite a distance away (and Yohan horribly alone), he dashes uphill to catch him. He grabs Sihun's wrist, spinning him around with more force then he'd intended.

"Sorry. Let's not go there. Let's go to my friends and my tent instead. How about it?" 

Sihun regards him, expression unreadable. He doesn't take his wrist back, but he's rather stiff in Yohan's hold. Naturally, Yohan could let go of Sihun's wrist. But besides the fact that he kind of likes it being there, he is really quite scared of Sihun heading towards the forest again and leaving Yohan behind. Additionally, he is slightly scared of Sihun turning into a fox and eating him. Yohan's heart is more tumultuous than it's been in years.

"We just met," Sihun notes eventually, stepping into Yohan's personal space, twisting his wrists till their fingers can lace together, "Isn't that rather forward of you?"

His black eyes are steady. His skin is pale under the crystal moonlight. The corners of his lips curl into a tease. Not for the first time tonight, Yohan's words are blocked by stammers and stutters. 

"Besides," Sihun points out, the fingers of his free hand ghosting up Yohan's bare arm, making hairs stand up in their wake, "You said you were lost. Do you even know how to get back to your tent?" 

"Uh, not as such," Yohan admits, caught short. He supposes by now he ought to rule out Sihun being on something. The boy is too articulate and... and _knowing_. On the other hand, Yohan finds it difficult to accept that a boy he's barely met can grab a hold of his senses like this, not without some kind of assistance. It's either drugs or Sihun's a nine tailed fox who's going to eat Yohan's liver. And Yohan is fond of his liver.

Fond of it he may be, but when Sihun chuckles at Yohan's answer and continues his walk, wrist falling from Yohan's hold, he follows after the dancer, watching Sihun's blue hair change hue in the gloom the further from Yohan he drifts. At the edge of the woods, Sihun peeps over his shoulder, grinning and waving for Yohan to catch up.

"Come on, Yohannie. Don't get lost." 

Like a puppy hearing its name, he scurries the final stretch up the hill, almost colliding with the thin boy muffling a laugh behind the sleeve of Yohan's jacket. Sihun takes his hand and they dive Into the lightless woods.

There is some kind of path, but Yohan can't make it out. Slender barb's scrape at his jeans and scratch his arms. More than once, he narrowly avoids bashing his head on low branches, becoming aware of them only when they're directly in front of his face. He hears nothing apart from their breaths and the mysterious clicks and chirrs of insects. Sometimes his feet stumble over rocks, other times they squelch through puddles. His heart rate is picking up with frustration. And fear. He'll admit it. Fear. He's hungry and he can't see a damn thing except for Sihun as a tenebrous apparition at the end of his arm. The warm hand around his that had been a comfort is beginning to feel like a trap. 

Perhaps sensing his mood shifting, perhaps feeling the pulse racing at his wrist, Sihun's bright voice chimes out, 

"Almost there." 

It sounds risible at the time. Yet only a minute later, flickering light hits his dilated eyes. He hears voices, the plucking of a guitar. An aroma of smoke and roasting meat toys with his senses. Then, quite suddenly, they're in a clearing, pure moonlight above and a bonfire sending tendrils of heat through the cool air. Four people sit on stools or mats around the fire. They curiously observe Yohan and Sihun standing at the entrance. Unease smoulders in Yohan's stomach. Until Sihun waves energetically and greets, 

"Hi, guys! I made a friend." 

The four people around the fire break into grins. As if the flames burnt it away, Yohan forgets his unease. Sihun's hand slips from his again and he accompanies him into the fold. 

"What's your friend's name, Hyung?" someone asks. It's a kid, softly spoken, who looks far too young to be hanging in the woods in the middle of the night. He's tall and willowy, with messy red hair in need of a cut and the appearance of whiskers when he smiles. 

"You should ask him yourself, Eunsangie," Sihun chides. Despite his words, he continues, "His name is Kim Yohan and he's hungry. Do we have food for him?" 

"Eung! Come sit with me, Yohan-hyung."

The kid throws his overly-long self onto a stool right in front of the bonfire, flames reflecting in his deep black eyes. He flaps a hand for Yohan to join him. Sheepishly, Yohan does so, the promise of food making him not care so much about niceties or the foliage clinging to his hair and clothes.

"Give me a song," the man with the guitar on his lap calls. He has blue hair similar to Sihun's, the tint too difficult to make out in the dimness. Also like Sihun, his skin is pale as milk and his smile easy and inviting, "Youngmin's threatening my bodily integrity if I play another Seventeen number." 

A man lying on a mat, head propped up on a bag and an ebook on his chest, chuckles. He has a young face, wavy red hair that curls around his ears, and he doesn't look capable of endangering any one's bodily integrity. Next to him another boy is sitting cross-legged on the mat, playing a game on his phone. His bottom lip is trapped by a canine tooth as he concentrates and his red bangs fall in front of his eyes. Yohan wonders what's with all these people with cherry red or sleek blue hair. It must be a trend, he guesses, amongst the people who go to secluded raves like this, who camp in the woods, deep in the realm of ogres. Some of Yohan's visceral fears tremble back into life.

Eunsang hands him a roasted pork sausage, fatty and seared. He has a guileless smile and a look in his eyes that shows he's hoping to be praised. Yohan takes the skewer and sinks his teeth into the meat. Juices fill his mouth and his silly fears are smothered.

"My compliments to the chef," he blathers, mouth full, "Best chef. Amazing chef." 

All bashful giggles, Eunsang skewers more meat, content in his current role and by the scorching heat of the bonfire. 

From then on, Yohan is naturally enveloped in their gathering. He learns that Donghyun, the guitarist, is Sihun's cousin. Youngmin is Donghyun's "good friend" - whatever that means - and Woojin (the gamer) and Eunsang are Youngmin's little brothers. This again begs a question about their red hair and scarlet lips, all five of them with skin ivory white. But that question is swallowed up in the friendly atmosphere. They eat roast meat and talk and laugh. Yohan ends up feeling like he belongs amongst them. Donghyun strums his guitar and he and Eunsang sing love songs about sunsets and rainy spring days and threading flowers through your beloved's hair. Yohan's phone bleeps and dies in his pocket. He doesn't hear it or think to check. 

In this pleasant haven amongst the whispering trees, time slips from Yohan's grasp. At a certain point, he's sitting on the mat, full and satiated. Sihun's at his side, head on Yohan's shoulder, their fingers entwined together held on Sihun's lap. Woojin and Eunsang want to dance, so they're playing songs on Woojin's phone while Youngmin and Donghyun sit together, Donghyun reading over Youngmin's shoulder. 

"Do you want to join them?" Sihun whispers, lips brushing the shell of his ear. Yohan blushes - Sihun's irritatingly good at making him do that. The blue haired boy takes his wonky grin as consent and hauls him to his feet.

Woojin and Eunsang bounce around freely to the music. Sihun guides Yohan's clunky movements, hands delicately on his hips, coaxing him to relax, to melt into the moment. Yohan responds. He's forgotten about his friends, about being lost, about finding his way out of this place. They dance together in the flickering, shifting firelight. And if the shadows sometimes don't match, if Yohan catches sight of curling tails and twitching animal ears, those strange shadows slither away and out of Yohan's thoughts. Sihun presses a kiss to Yohan's jaw and Yohan holds him tighter, arms around his narrow waist.

The pearl moon dips in the sky and the Sun rises. Yohan doesn't know when he slept, but he wakes up on his stomach on the forest floor, ants marching over his bare arms and the taste of grit in his mouth. Trees loom above him, a stretch of grey dawn sky visible. Yohan sits up. The base of his skull pounds. He tries to remember what happened, where he is. But there's not much to go on. Other than a few blackened stones, there's nothing remarkable in this little clearing, no sign of human life. There's just brown earth and rocks and the ants marching steadily on their way.

The ache gnawing at his guts causes him to look down at himself. His T-shirt has ridden up and a red mark is visible at his hip. Annoyed, thinking it'll be a bug bite, the type to itch like hell now he knows it's there, Yohan pulls his shirt up a little. Then some more. 

It's not a bug bite. It's not just one bite either. He can see sharp toothmarks and deep bruises undulating from them. He jumps up, seeing stars, ears ringing. He tears his shirt off and cranes his stiff neck to see. The marks cover his back as well.

Breathing hard now, Yohan becomes aware of the silence around him. Barely an insect chirps. The trees surround, rustling and whispering. Songs spring to Yohan's mind, but he can't think where he's heard them before. He uselessly tries to shake them from his head. They don't leave - strange, cute lyrics repeating while he struggles to remember how he got here. He was lost - he remembers that. And he remembers strobe lights and electric blue. Everything else is shadows.

With the sense in his soul of being observed, Yohan drags his feet to what looks like a path to pick his way out of the woods.


End file.
